Chapter 3: Property

Caelum

"SILENCE!"

The word tore from my throat with enough Alpha command to make every wolf in the clearing drop their eyes and bare their necks in submission. Beside me, Darius's voice joined mine in perfect unison, our combined dominance crashing over the crowd like a tidal wave.

We were usually at odds with each other, literally holding knives to each other’s necks, but here, for the first time, we agreed on something and felt the same way about these subordinates who thought they could decide what to do with our mate for us.

Ridiculous

"Shut up. All of you."

The sudden quiet was deafening. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as hundreds of wolves cowered under our shared authority. I could feel Darius's power mixing with mine, and it was... intoxicating. Dangerous.

‘Was this the effect of the mating? Or something else entirely?’

My aunt stepped forward and brought me out of my head and into the present, her chin raised in that familiar way that meant she was about to meddle in my affairs. "Caelum, you need to think about what this means for the family—"

"Don't." I cut her off without even looking at her, my eyes still fixed on the girl kneeling in the centre of the circle. "Don't say another word, Aunt Morwen."

She stiffened. I'd never spoken to her like that in public before, never undermined her authority in front of other packs. But right now, with the mate bond burning like acid in my veins and my wolf clawing to get out, I didn't care about politics or family dynamics.

"Are you seriously defending her?" Aunt Morwen's voice was pitched low, but it carried in the silence. "After what her father did to your mother?"

Something cold and deadly settled in my chest. "I said. Don't."

The warning in my voice made several pack members actually step backwards. Good. They should be afraid.

I stalked toward the centre of the circle, my eyes never leaving the pathetic figure hunched over her glowing wrists.

Selene Duskbane.

The cursed wolf.

The daughter of the traitor who'd cost me everything.

My mate.

"Listen carefully," I said, my voice carrying to every corner of the clearing. "She is my mate. Mine. That means I'm the only one who gets to decide whether she lives or dies. Not you, not the council, not anyone else."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd, but no one dared speak openly.

"From this moment forward," I continued, "Selene Duskbane is my property. She belongs to me until I find a way to break this bond permanently. If anyone wants to contest my decision…" I paused and glanced at Alpha Marcus.

He shook his head immediately, a nervous smile on his face. “Oh, no. There won’t be a need for that. She’s your mate, and you can do whatever you want to do with or to her. I may be her Alpha,” he paused and gestured to his pack members, “And we may be her pack members, but even if we don't want something to do with her, so… you can have her.”

I nodded my head  at Alpha Marcus and turned to Selene, who was still kneeling.

"You can't just claim her completely."

Darius's voice cut through the air around the moonspire like a blade. I turned to face my oldest enemy, the war-Alpha who'd been a thorn in my side since we were children. His amber eyes were blazing with the same fury I felt, and his massive frame was coiled like he was ready to attack.

"She's bound to me, too," he said, stepping closer. "Half of her belongs to me."

"Half?" I laughed, but there was no humour in it. "You think I'm going to share?"

"You think you have a choice?"

We stared at each other across the circle, two Alphas on the verge of a battle that would paint the sacred ground with blood. The crowd held its breath, waiting to see which of us would strike first.

And comically, if we’d actually do it because of a girl, and that too, the outcast in the werewolf race.

That's when she spoke.

"I don't want the bond."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but in the dead silence, it might as well have been a shout. Selene had struggled to her feet, though she was swaying dangerously. Her dark hair hung around her face like a curtain.

A violent cough ripped through her chest, and she coughed up blood. My whole body tingled with the urge to rush to her and care for her, but I willed myself to stay rooted in my spot.

She wasn’t worth my sympathy.

My eyes followed the movement of her arm as she wiped the blood from her nose and mouth. The pain from the failed rejection had seriously weakened her, but she was trying to be strong, and I could see it from the stubborn set of her jaw.

"You're right," she continued, her voice getting stronger. "I'm not worthy of being anyone's mate. Especially not yours."

I narrowed my eyes at her, as anger flashed through me. Who was this insignificant little wolf to decide she wasn't good enough for me?

I was Caelum Veylor. I was worth billions. I commanded respect from Alphas twice my age. And she thought she could reject me?

"Who are you," I said, my voice deadly quiet, "to reject me?"

But she ignored my question completely, like I was nothing more than background noise. The audacity of it made my vision go red around the edges.

"You can both just ignore me," she said, addressing the crowd now instead of me. "The way everyone's been doing my whole life. You're Alphas. You can pick any bride you want. You don't need anybody like me."

That's when something inside me snapped.

I moved fast, closing the distance between us in three strides. She looked up at me with those defiant green eyes, and for the first time, her scent hit me full force.

Wild jasmine and rain. She smelled like something clean and pure that had no business smelling so perfect. The scent wrapped around me like silk, making my wolf purr in satisfaction and my body respond in ways that had nothing to do with anger.

For one insane moment, I wanted to bury my face in her neck and breathe her in until I drowned in it.

Then I remembered who she was.

What she was. And I crushed that traitorous reaction with iron will.

I leaned down until we were eye to eye, letting every ounce of my dominance press against her. She didn't flinch, which only made me angrier.

"What," I said, my voice barely above a whisper but loaded with menace, "did you just say?"